Motorola Wins Patent Ruling Against Apple in Germany

Motorola has won a ruling against Apple in the Mannheim Regional Court in Germany, which could lead to a ban on the sales of Apple 3G products like all the iPhone models, and the iPad 3G variants, according to a report by FOSS Patents.

The court has ruled that Apple’s products violate a GPRS patent owned by Motorola. It is a FRAND patent, which Motorola is required to license to any manufacturer that wishes to use the technology. However, Apple hasn’t made a reasonable binding offer to Motorola yet, to license the patent, which is why the court has granted Motorola a preliminary injunction against Apple.

It has also ordered Motorola to post a $134 million bond, if it wants to enforce the ruling. In case the ruling is overturned later, Apple would be reimbursed using the bond.

Apple has already appealed the ruling, and requested a stay against the injunction. A ban seems improbable, but it seems very likely that Apple will have to license the patent from Motorola, in order to continue selling the iPhone or iPad in Germany.

Looks like Microsoft isn’t the only one getting rich from patent licensing, and Apple isn’t the only bully arm-twisting others on the patent playground.